A CURIOUS MIX OF BRITISH FOLK MUSIC AND AMERICAN POLITICS
The Watersons, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Kate Rusby, Jake Bugg, The Unthanks
In Shirley Collins’ first solo album in 40 years, Danny Riley finds a a sonic continuum blurring the British folk tradition with the farthest outliers of the country’s hidden musical history …
Read Full Revew: The Quietus | Features | The Lead Review | Danny Riley on Shirley Collins’ Lodestar
Much of the best recent British folk music has come from groups of musicians already well known for their solo work and involvement in other projects, and the Furrow Collective fall firmly into this category. Alasdair Roberts, Emily Portman, Lucy Farrell and Rachel Newton got together to re-work traditional songs, and the second Collective album shows they have developed a compelling style and sound of their own.
Read full story: The Furrow Collective: Wild Hog review – folk songs full of death and magic | Music | The Guardian
Many great bands have created a cool new sound. But how many start an entirely new genre? Fairport Convention did just that in 1969, providing the essential template for all Celtic-rock to come. Any recording that contains even a whiff of amplified traditional music from the U.K., or Ireland, owes something to Fairport, which means bands ranging from The Pogues and Flogging Molly to Led Zeppelin and U2. While other ’60s acts, like Pentangle and The Incredible String Band, did their part to revive the jigs, reels and ballads of traditional music, Fairport were the first to soup-up those styles with the full punch and wail of psychedelic-rock.
READ FULL STORY at Source: The Incredible Legacy of Fairport Convention | Music Aficionado
“I’m up to my ass in traditional songs,” Linda Thompson says in the extensive Q&A published today on theartsdesk. When she talked to me she also discussed her early adventures in traditional folk music. “I was already interested in folk singing in Glasgow,” she said. “Great people like Archie Fisher. When I came to London I got friendly with Sandy Denny, who was singing at The Troubadour. I’d been singing seriously since I was 18, in folk clubs, with Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, all those people. I really liked the music. I’d grown up with American music, so had never heard anyone sing with a British accent. And I started to do that, it just seemed the right thing to do.”
While claiming to know “22,000” traditional songs, she managed to whittle down a list of ten favourite performances, in no particular order. Where available, a YouTube performance accompanies each of her choices.
1. “Bogey’s Bonny Belle” by Sheila Stewart
We know about the Stewart family. They were tinkers, they liked to be called Tinkers in Scotland, not Romanies or Gypsies. They were amazing singers and this is a great song.
READ MORE: Listed: Linda Thompson’s Top 10 Traditional Songs | reviews, news & interviews | The Arts Desk